WP31s: is the 20B keyboard really that bad?

[Dieter]

(02-01-2015 03:25 PM)Bit Wrote:  The 20b's keyboard is very different, the keys don't click, their movement is completely soft. Whether that's for the better or worse is subjective but I guess most people here would consider it worse.

This does not sound so bad that I should not give it a try. ;-)

(02-01-2015 03:25 PM)Bit Wrote:  There's another difference I noticed, although I'm cannot be sure if it's just my samples: The LCD in the 30b's seems nicer, more contrasty.

Hm... can someone else confirm this?

(02-01-2015 03:25 PM)Bit Wrote:  I've made some 31S calculators based on both hardware and I didn't think the 30b's looked bad at all. I'd say the silver faceplace even adds a little character.

The sourceforge 34s site links to this picture showing both versions. Now if you could choose between these two... be honest. ;-)

(02-01-2015 03:25 PM)Bit Wrote:  You should paint the faceplace around the keys black as Eric does in his instructional video.

What pen are you using for this? Staedler's permanent markers (a common brand here in Germany) usually leave a purple shine.

(02-01-2015 03:25 PM)Bit Wrote:  Out of curiosity, which are the functions that aren't very easily accessible on the 34S and make the biggest difference to you?

It's virtually every math function. Except the four basic arithmetic keys, each and every function requires at least two key presses, even the most basic ones like roots and reciprocals. The limit is in the hardware, since the keyboard has only seven rows. When I switched from my 34C to a 41C I really appreciated the additional eigth row that allowed easy one-key access to most essential functions. That's what I also like on the 35s which has become my everyday calculator. On such a device I expect basic functions like roots, powers, logs, exponential and trig functions to be accessed directly, i.e. without having to use a shift key. The 31s comes very close in this regard.

Dieter